By Beth Peter, MD, Ready for School
If you’re reading this, you can read a book to a child. Look around you at the children in your life and consider your big hopes for them. Now consider this: Making reading a part of every child’s day is your way to start simple and build toward bigger hopes.
As a physician who provides care to many children in this community, I am increasingly grateful for the work of Ready for School, recently named the West Michigan affiliate of Reach Out and Read (ROR), a national program that incorporates books into pediatric care and encourages families to read aloud together.
At the beginning of every well-child visit from ages 6 months to 5 years, ROR medical providers give each child a new, developmentally-appropriate book to take home. Handing a book to an anxious child or parent helps place their future success in their hands. It remains among the highlights of my work day. Following kids through the years, knowing they have nine high quality books (more if they have siblings!) by the time they reach kindergarten, is a tangible way to move my hopes for each kid to reality.
I have big hopes for kids – my kids, your kids, your grandkids, the neighborhood kids and all the kids in this corner of America. I hope they will grow into productive humans who strengthen our community through service and innovation. I dream they will help us be more kind and just. Reading aloud with a child, for 15 minutes a day, can change that child’s trajectory in life.
Reading aloud exposes kids to a wider variety of words and helps build vocabulary in ways that usual conversation does not. The more we read to our children, the more neurons make connections which then help build curiosity and memory. Reading aloud helps children cope during times of stress and anxiety, crucial skills in navigating future unexpected life challenges.
Reading enlarges and enhances their world, taking children to places and times they never experienced. It builds empathy for different backgrounds and perspectives.
Finally, reading aloud with kids creates an experience that nurtures a positive association with books, caregivers, and reading. The experience becomes the foundation for kids who become lifelong readers.
Despite the incredible potential of this simple habit, the most recent study from Read Aloud.org shows only 30 percent of American families read regularly with their children.
Reading to kids can be a challenge. I understand. Wiggly kids don’t seem to pay much attention to books. Read with them anyway. Parents may never have had a love of reading modeled in their own childhood. Model it for them anyway. Families are overworked and overscheduled. Read with your kids anyway.
Look around you at the children in your life. Then take a deep breath and open a book with a kid. It all starts with a turn of a page.
Dr. Beth Peter, MD, is a family medicine physician in Holland with Lakewood Family Medicine. She also serves on Ready for School’s Board of Directors.
This Week’s Sustainability Framework Theme
Community Knowledge: The collective knowledge and energy of the community is an incredible resource that must be channeled to where it is needed.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
Living Sustainably is a collection of community voices sharing updates about local sustainability initiatives. It is presented by the Holland-Hope College Sustainability Institute, a joint project of Hope College, the City of Holland and Holland Board of Public Works. Go to www.hope.edu/sustainability-institute for more information.
